The English Language Arts Department of Scituate High School supports and actively
engages students in achievement of Scituate High School's academic expectations and
learner outcomes. Students engage in activities that promote effective communication
through speaking, writing, listening and reading, critical thinking and problem solving,
effective and responsible use of technology, and exploration of creativity and curiosity.
Our courses at each grade level offer multiple opportunities for self-responsibility,
recognition and respect for individual differences and diversities, and appreciation and
respect for the abilities and achievements of others. Each course also offers the
opportunity for students to practice leadership and membership skills by working in
groups to solve problems.

The English Department faculty is dedicated to developing the whole student, and in this
effort recognizes students' diverse learning styles. Our collective goal is to provide each
student with a learning base that carries beyond the high school setting and enables
students to apply the knowledge attained in high school to college endeavors and future
employment. To this end, each course is designed to expose students to relevant
literature, and current global and domestic themes pertinent to the human condition.
Students who successfully complete four years of English experience multiple genres of
writing and reading and actively use current technology and media.

In recognition of 21st century learning, students use technology to research topics,
communicate with other students, locally and globally, analyze media bias, vet internet
site credibility, and present researched topics in a professional manner. Students work in
pairs and groups to collaboratively attain prescribed goals, create original works and
solve problems.

The department has a firm belief in a common academic vocabulary that allows for
student progress to be commonly recognized and fairly and consistently accessed. We use
the District-Wide Writing rubric, and school wide rubrics to instruct and measure:
effective class communication, critical thinking, comprehension and analysis of visual
materials, research and analysis of a variety of sources, active listening, self-evaluation
and class critiques, self-responsibility, working cooperatively, application of appropriate
technology, and oral communication. Additionally, we use common benchmarks as a
calibration tool.

English Department Policies

Grading

English grading criteria consists of the following categories and percentages. The final
exam is a full 20% of the year-end grade constituting the fifth segment of the year.
Segment One only:

Summer Reading

Tests, major papers, and projects

Quizzes

Homework

Segment 5

Final Exam Includes:

Vocabulary

Grammar

Writing/Reading

Late Work

Plagiarism

"Plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else's language, ideas, or
other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.
This includes:

submitting someone else's ideas or words as one's own;

carelessly or inadequately citing ideas and words borrowed from another source;"

cheating or copying from another student on a test, quiz, or homework assignment.

(Defining and Avoiding Plagiarism: The WPA Statement on Best Practices. Council of
Writing Program Administrators. 2009.
Web.01June2010..)

A plagiarized assignment earns a ZERO on that assignment with no opportunity to make
up the work. An act of plagiarism is reported to your parents, school counselor, and
principal.